


much ado about everything

by tomcruisin



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Love, Mikael’s Horrible Parenting, Rebekah Is My Favorite, idk I wrote this in 2018 and I kind of want to revive it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29644956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomcruisin/pseuds/tomcruisin
Summary: In which the Mikaelson’s are an affluent southern American family living during the early 1900s and while some things change; for the most part, they remain the same.(Alternatively Titled: Rebekah Screams at Everyone For Being Bloody Wankers While Stefan Broods, Klaus Conspires, Elena Sobs, And All The While, Marriage Betrothals Are Arranged, Not Necessarily In That Order).
Relationships: Bonnie Bennett/Kol Mikaelson, Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore, Elijah Mikaelson/Katherine Pierce, Finn Mikaelson/His Father’s Estate, Rebekah Mikaelson/Stefan Salvatore
Comments: 12
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (The title for this fic is inspired by Willam Shakespear’s,” Much Ado About Nothing.”)

It starts as a whisper, a mere rumor of sorts. Servants gossip, if you will. A murmuring here and there. In the kitchen, the library, even Rebekah's own bedroom. Kol says he heard it first when he fooled around with Darcy something or other in the barn, but everyone knows that there is no Darcy in Mystic Falls, so his retelling was considered invalid. In fact, the only person in Mikaelson Manor who might've known about it would be Finn, who paraded the unspoken information around like a peacock preening its feathers.

("Only the son who's going to inherit his father's goods gets to know the comings and goings of this town. Not girls like you, Rebekah," he'd huff, nose scrunched up in haughtiness). Rebekah would've said something snarky like "the only girl here is you, Finn,” or anything of that sort but deems it unnecessary. She was too invested in knowing exactly what was going on. Besides, it wasn't like the opportunity to insult Finn came once every few centuries. In fact, the occasion presented itself anytime he was in a room with one of his other siblings. 

So, for the next fortnight Rebekah made it her priority to find out precisely what in the world the tizzy was all about. Whenever Father would lean toward Finn to speak of things called "important business,” at the super table, Rebekah would lean over as well, straining to hear what was being said. This was to no avail however, and resulted in her getting ratted on by Kol, little brat that he was.

("Father!" He'd wail, eyes dancing with mischief. "Bekah's eavesdropping!" Kol'd exclaim, like it was the most sinful deed anyone could ever commit. "Am not!" Rebekah would yell back. In the end, the two of them were both told off by their father. Finn and him would relocate to Father's study, where Rebekah would have absolutely no chance of finding anything out.)

She devises another plot, one cleverer, better executed. Elijah, Kol, Niklaus and her were all obligated to attend Mass every Sunday, which was positively dreadful. Finn was excused merely because he had to prepare for "his duties,” as sole owner of Mikaelson Manor, and Kol was coincidentally nowhere to be found when the time came to leave for church.Which left Niklaus, Rebekah, and Elijah stuffed in a pew. Nik would always be rolling his eyes and scoffing at the minister's sermon, Elijah would send scolding looks his way, and Rebekah would attempt to look pretty while simultaneously kicking Niklaus every time he winked at the nuns.

It was exhausting, really.

One early Sunday morning, Rebekah rolls out of bed, rubs paste into her cheeks to color them pale, and begins to fake a coughing fit. "Oh, Father!" She cries, tears brimming in her azure eyes (in another life, she truly should've been an actress) and slings her hand across her head as if she were deathly ill. "I'm sick! Ever so sick. This is so...sad! It breaks my heart to miss the minister's homily, but I fear I'll infect the whole congregation!"

Her father looked at her with a mix of incredulity and disgust. "As you wish, girl," he says gruffly, subtly stepping away from her as if he'd catch her nonexistent disease. Rebekah fights to keep the grin threatening to wash over her at face at bay and manages a tearful smile. "Oh, thank you, father! Thank you!" she wailed, and swept into her bedroom. She doesn't miss the envious look Niklaus shoots her or the condescending one on Elijah's.

Rebekah ignores them.

When she observes Finn and Father approaching his study, Rebekah makes a beeline for the hallway. She stays hidden, out of sight, and cranes her neck to hear better. Father had a solemn expression on his face, which was not uncharacteristic of him, and Finn looked haughty as per usual. For roughly twenty minutes, her brother and her father discussed much of the same: the manor’s income, the manor’s spending, potential marriage prospects for Rebekah herself (which Rebekah was excited about, but if anyone, anyone, told Nik, she’d rip their heart out).

But then, oh the ominous _then.  
_

“Father, what’s to be done about those Salvatores? And the Forbes’—why are they all relocating here?” Finn began, and Father looked worriedly around, as if the ghosts (or Rebekah), would hear and conspire against him. “I’ve no idea, boy. But we’d best be ready,” and Finn nodded ominously. 

A quiet settles over the room until Rebekah hears the creaking of a door. Finn opened the door to the study, and the female Mikaelson was so shocked that she could only stand in shock as Finn scowled and yelled “ _Father!”_ and suddenly Rebekah is scrambling out the hallway and Father is screaming bloody murder and _yes, she was just waiting for Nik and Elijah to get back,_ and _well, Father, the hallway was warm and my room was faintly drafty_ and _no, Father, yes I’ll return to bed_ and under her breath one could faintly hear 

“ _Bloody, backstabbing wanker!”_


	2. the arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Petrova’s and Salvatore’s arrive. Chaos ensues.

They arrive at dawn, these harbingers of darkness and all things wicked and dastardly. These ghastly ghouls made flesh, these despicable villains, these vile fiends, these—

“Oh, where _do_ you get those blue ribbons?”

It sounds perfectly amicable, the question the blonde poses. Her hair’s not quite as blonde as Rebekah’s own, but she’s pretty. The Mikaelson girl notices this in what she hopes is a disinterested sort of way and resists the urge to pull every individual strand out.

The girl is a strange sort of creature, and Rebekah is impatiently waiting for her to whip off her deceitful mask and reveal the monster beneath the surface. Father had spoken of their new neighbors in a hushed, nervous sort of tone, and nervousness was not a quality Rebekah was aware her dear father possessed. It was within reason to be worried, Rebekah rationalized, and continues to inspect the she-beast.  
  
“I’m Caroline. Caroline Forbes,” the girl plods on, and she has never heard someone say so much in such a small span of time. “I grew up north of here, but my mother was insistent upon moving here once I turned sixteen, so it’s all strange.” Rebekah’s throat throbs in phantom pain at the thought of the little oxygen this Caroline must intake on a daily basis, and she puts an end to it immediately.

“My name is Rebekah,” she says, cutting the blonde demon off mid-sentence. “Rebekah Mikaelson,” she clarifies, so the girl would not be mistaken about her status. There is a pause, as if Caroline had never been interrupted before in her life, and she smiles so genuinely Rebekah is caught off guard. “Oh, you’ve lived here like— _your whole life,_ ” Caroline says, wide-eyed.

  
Rebekah grins and begins to answer, “Oh yes, I-,”

“Nearly her whole life, that is. My apologies, dear Rebekah can be a bit clumsy with time.”

Rebekah whirls, and there _he_ is. She had deciphered from a young age that there are two great evils in the whole world. Death, and older brothers. The latter was currently standing not two feet away, and Rebekah resists the urge to pummel him in front of the entire town square and Caroline Forbes. A battle of wills occurs, two sets of sapphire eyes meeting, and Rebekah knows she has lost when that derisive smile reappears on that smug face. Caroline’s own azure orbs narrow.

“I think she’s just fine,” she says. Niklaus’ brows furrowed; no girl had ever resisted his charms, and he looked positively flabbergasted, taken aback by this new, sudden development. After _the_ Niklaus Mikaelson uttered even a syllable, women were known to faint on the spot or grovel at his feet. Caroline did none of those things. She stayed where she was and looked at him, her lips forming an unimpressed line across her mouth.

Rebekah beams, links arms with her, and decides Caroline Forbes is not a vicious she-demon, after all. -

The Petrova’s arrive at midday, and the Salvatore’s during the evening. Rebekah despises them on sight.

Elena is beautiful, if timid, but there is something in her eyes that Rebekah cannot trust. She cannot put a word to it, but there is a something, flickering like candlelight in her deep brown depths that Rebekah is wary of. A hint of the same thing exists in her sister, Katerina— who insists on being called Katherine, but she is much more brash and outspoken. They are two sides of the same olive skinned coin, and they introduce themselves like they have been residents of Mystic Falls their entire lives. Rebekah wants to gouge their eyes out.

She especially mislikes the way Elijah takes Katherine— _Katerina’s_ (she will call her Katerina in her mind, just to spite her), delicate little hand, presses a kiss to it, and practically purrs– _purrs_! “Welcome to Mystic Falls, Ms. Pierce.” Elijah, her older brother, who shot her condescending looks during Mass, lectured her on the importance of family when she was being particularly insolent, and had never shown interest in any maiden in the entirety of his existence, purring! Rebekah is repulsed. She will put horse manure in his bedsheets if he continues with this sort of behavior.

She won’t. That particular punishment was reserved for Nik, and Nik only, but it gave her comfort to imagine.

And the Salvatore’s— they are another matter entirely. Elijah had whispered something about them being wealthy Italian landowners, and Kol had snorted and said they looked like frilly little girls. Rebekah was inclined to agree, but when she saw them, she knew it was merely Kol’s own insecurities speaking.

Damon Salvatore is dark and devastatingly handsome. He is sleek and elegant, and he has the same sort of obnoxious demeanor that Nik does whenever he’s done something nasty. He is cruel, dismissive, and perpetually annoyed. His eyes are an icy sort of blue, and he looks at her as though he holds her in no particular regard.

Rebekah despises him, but she knows herself better than anyone.

Stefan Salvatore is everything his brother is not. He is just as pretty, but when he grins at her, his smile is genuine. His eyes are a forest green, and when he looks at her, she knows half the female population of Mystic Falls will be in love with him by the end of the season. (The other half will be vying for Nik’s and Damon’s attentions, but Rebekah prefers not to dwell on that). -

They meet when her wretched father invites them for dinner, as he had the Petrova’s the previous day. Her father is planning something, in that pigged, dastardly, mind of his, but Rebekah refused to think about it. She had a multitude of other things to worry about.

Damon Salvatore sweeps in, shakes her father’s hand in a manner that he somehow found a way to seem mocking, and bows when he sees her brothers like some kind of bizarre sycophant. Kol was amused, Elijah and Finn disdainful, but Niklaus looked positively murderous.

Stefan, to his credit, seemed faintly embarrassed by his brother’s behavior and attempted to compensate for it by acting equal parts humble and dignified. He shakes her father’s hand, greets her brothers with as much respect as he could muster, and kisses her hand with a faint smile. Rebekah determinedly ignores the rapid drumbeat of her heart in her chest, and he grins again, like he could hear it quickening.

“So, Mr. Mikaelson,” Damon begins, and Rebekah knows this will be a long night.

“Mr. Salvatore,” her father replies gruffly, and Rebekah grips her knife harder.

“We are so thankful for your hospitality, and your welcomes,” Stefan says, and Niklaus answers, smooth as silk. “It is our pleasure—Steven, is it?”

Rebekah glares at her him over her plate. It was just like him to prey on the kinder of their two guests, and she hates him in that moment. She reminds herself to visit the stables after supper.

“Stefan,” he corrects softly, not abashed or shamed in the least. Rebekah is awed by his self-control. Niklaus had a particularly irritating, smug way about him. She would’ve been understanding if he’d reached across the table and smacked her brother right in his face. Not that she’d tolerate it, of course. He was still her older brother, regardless of his many, many flaws, and she would defend his honor.

There is a tense silence for a few moments, but Damon Salvatore is determined to make this night as difficult as possible. “This is a quaint little town, isn’t it? Stefan and I had high expectations, but it seems to me like–“

Stefan cuts his brother off with a firm “It’s beautiful. The Italian countryside does not compare.” Damon’s eyes flare at the interruption and her father looks as if he might spontaneously combust at any given moment.

Thankfully, after a few more minutes of hostile pleasantries on Damon’s behalf, and forced sincerity from Elijah’s, their supper is cleared and Rebekah has never been more glad to see food carried away in her life. With the exception of the day after Henrik’s funeral, and Mother’s subsequent departure, but those were other matters that Rebekah would not—could not think of, not now, not here, and certainly not in the presence of–

“Good evening, Rebekah,” Stefan Salvatore says and kisses her hand once again. His voice is fluid and clear, and Rebekah suddenly feels her cheeks redden a bit, and the embarrassment of that only makes her blush even harder. She scowls accidentally, and Stefan has a humorous glint in his eye.

Rebekah feels a sudden rush of anger at his boldness and yanks her hand away as courteously as she possibly could. “Good evening,” she says stiffly and watches him exasperatedly follow Damon, who sauntered out of their manor like he had much more important places to be. Niklaus snarls as soon as they are out of earshot. “The nerve of that fool. I _swear_ I’ll have him absolutely-“

“Oh shut up, Nik,” Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah say absentmindedly, and Rebekah makes a beeline for the stables, trying desperately to ignore the ghost of Stefan Salvatore’s lips that lingered on her skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stefan and Rebekah are so cute writing them is literally my favorite thing on the planet


	3. the game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niklaus makes innuendos, and Elijah plays games, both literal and figurative.

Elijah has always prided himself on his self control. His unflinching and unfailing ability to deny himself his most base desires for the greater good of his family. Not eating the last custard because Rebekah had a taste for them, teaching Niklaus to read and write when Father refused, among many other things. 

He was the second son and such is the plight of the second son. To be the backbone of the family if the heir ever should fail or die, but Elijah knew that Finn would not let a minor setback like death stop him from inheriting Father’s estate. Henceforth, Elijah, from a young age, had steadily replaced his own ambitions and his own wants with one singular driving force: family. 

It never even occurred to him that he should covet anything else. 

“You’re looking especially dour, brother. Cat got your tongue? Or rather, _Katerina_ got your tongue?” 

Niklaus snickered at his own innuendo, unaffected by the fact that Elijah was not laughing with him. Even if he had, Niklaus would not have noticed. If Elijah was driven by his devotion for his family Niklaus was fueled by his devotion to himself. And his desire to be accepted by Father, but that was a topic that he was sure his little brother would not appreciate being broached. 

“You never fail to amuse me, Niklaus,” Elijah said, decidedly unamused. His brother strode languidly over to where Elijah was seated on the chaise lounge in their overwhelmingly grand parlor room. Mikaelson Manor was the most beautiful building to ever be constructed in Mystic Falls, and its sheer ostentatiousness never failed to impress anyone who graced its halls. 

Except her. _She_ had entered with her shoulders back and her head high and given his home the most uninterested glance he had ever witnessed. Meanwhile her sister, who resembled her so closely that they were practically doppelgängers, had gawked and made wide eyes at everything she passed. 

“Hmm, Rebekah seemed keenly interested in your little fascination with our new neighbor. Before the Salvatore boy, of course. Her head’s so far up his arse that her ability to be aware of anyone else has clearly been diminished.” On that charming note, his brother scowled, as if the idea that Rebekah could idolize anyone other than himself insulted his very essence or being. 

His little brother and sister had always been inseparable, even as children. Elijah had never been a variable in their lives at that point; he was much too old and much too preoccupied with other matters than to entertain himself with their games. He had been more of an umbrella presence, looming over them and occasionally even taking on a parental role. His father and elder brother had never had the sort of time to discipline his four younger children, and so the responsibly had fallen to Elijah. He had taken it in stride, of course, because there was no alternative to be had. 

Niklaus and Rebekah were also strangely alike in ways one who had not lived with them could not understand. They were both prone to screaming, narcissistic, and oddly insightful at the most inopportune moments. Such as now. Both of them had immediately gleaned his initial interest in Katherine Pierce. Niklaus, of course, had used it to his advantage out of spite. Rebekah had yet to make a comment, but it was only a matter of time. 

“Leave her be, Niklaus,” Elijah said softly. Niklaus scoffed. “She’s a lovesick fool. I don’t doubt she’ll be onto the other brother within a week,” he sneered. He doesn’t say it, but there is an unspoken phrase at the end all the same. _And in a few weeks time, they’ll break her heart, and she’ll be back._

Elijah shoots Niklaus the reprimanding look he can manage, silently urging him to rein in his tongue. He knew Rebekah had an uncanny ability to find out things that concerned her, whether it was her business to know or not, and it had resulted in many a teary eyed night for his only sister.

“What’s that look for? Lighten up, brother. Perhaps Katerina will take that hand of hers and rip out that stick you’ve got shoved in your arse. Or perhaps she’ll even use it for– _other_ things,” Niklaus said, suggestively waggling his eyebrows and then striding away, chuckling to himself as he went. 

Elijah sighed. He makes a mental note to tell Father Alaric to take Niklaus aside after Church on Sunday, so he couldn’t spend more time pursuing that Forbes girl. Besides, Niklaus despised being lectured. Elijah smiles to himself then; he may have a stick up his arse, but he certainly knew how to play his cards, and he played them quite well, if he did say so himself. 

-

  
Katherine Pierce is evading him. 

Elijah isn’t sure how he knows; it just seems as obvious and inexplicable to him as anything. The only thing he cannot comprehend is _why_. She had seemed just as enraptured with him as he had been with her during his Father’s arranged supper. Not that he had much experience with women, but he knew the telltale signs of disinterest, and she had not been displaying them. 

Elena and her were identical in a way that is almost frightening, but Elijah knew at once he could easily identify one from the other. Katerina had strode in, and her eyes had been brown pools filled with ambition and cunning. She was beautiful, and he had been a bit breathless when he kissed her hand and welcomed her to his home. She had smirked then, stepped towards him, and she had seemed like a magnet, the way he was tempted to move in closer. 

“I prefer Katherine,” she’d said with enough conviction in her voice that he sensed there would be a problem if anyone ever called her anything else, and then she smiled, like it was her own personal joke. Rebekah had cast her a mocking look, and Kol had raised his eyebrows like he wanted her to call _his_ name instead (perhaps under slightly more provocative circumstances), but Elijah had merely bowed his head. “As you wish, Katherine,” he had proclaimed, and her half-smile blossomed into a full one, as though he’d passed some sort of initiation test. 

They’d been seated next to each other, and she had not seemed to take offense that he was just the second son. In fact, she had not even commented upon it. They had laughed, joked, even flirted (again, not an area Elijah had much experience in, but he was no craven).He had been the most entertaining host he possiblycould, and she was evading him. 

Elijah is intelligent. He doesn’t have the same kind of cunning as Klaus or Kol’s undeniable ability to sow discord whenever possible, but he is intelligent. Sums, reading, it all came easy to him. He was a reasonable man as well as possessing enough emotional intelligence to empathize and resolve problems among all of his siblings. Elijah is no fool, but he cannot for the life of him figure out why Katherine would not seek him out after their initial encounter. 

He had certainly sought her out, embarrassingly enough. They had crossed paths in Bonnie Bennett’s herb shop, but her gaze had merely flitted over him momentarily before she’d smiled and left in a haste, without even saying hello or goodbye or anything even remotely close to an acknowledgement.

Following that interaction, or lack thereof, Elijah had seen her in various places around Mystic Falls but had never made an attempt to confront her. She became a background character in his life but always seemed to be at the forefront of his mind. The shadow lingering behind him, always just out of reach. 

As soon as Elijah had begun to regret despairing so much over her, she bounded up to him during his football match with Kol and Niklaus. He had been barely coherent, dripping in sweat like water into a well. His brown hair had been tousled, a sheen of sweat present on his brow, and his shirt unbuttoned to reveal the small patch of dark hair on his chest.

“Well, don’t you look ravishing,” she says by way of greeting, sidling up to him. Elijah could faintly hear Niklaus and Kol snickering in the background, but he could not bring himself to care. He usually had an eloquent way of speaking, had complimented on it many times, but Elijah’s tongue feels leaden in his mouth. He cannot craft sentences that do not sound along the lines o _f you wretched, evil, beautiful woman_ or _why have you made me feel so strung along like I meant nothing to you at all?_

For a tense moment, he says nothing. Then, his thoughts finally gather and he simply says, “I suppose.” He will not grant her his full attentions, not after she’d ignored him so. He feels almost petulant in his actions, and the pettiness of his words does nothing to alleviate the heaviness in his chest.

She strokes his arm then, forcing his brown orbs to meet her own. Despite his austerity, Elijah can appreciate beauty, and she certainly had much of it. Her white dress complimented her tumbling dark curls and brilliantly offset her olive skin. He is not an idiot; he knows she is aware of her own beauty, and from the cleverness she had displayed at supper that fateful night, she was certainly aware of his own awareness of it. 

“You looked quite dashing running towards that ball. Why is it that you were so intent on catching it?” she questions, and he gets the vague impression that she is laughing at him, that he is the butt of one of her private jokes. However, Elijah is nothing if not composed. “If I caught it, then the game would be over,” he says primly, and she smiles, like he’s finally caught on. 

“I imagine you won the match, then.” 

Elijah is not here to exchange useless small talk; he wants an explanation for the way she has avoided him, but he doesn’t know how to approach it without sounding like some sort of desperate craven. He is dimly aware of Kol and Niklaus entering the manor, leaving the two of them alone in the field. 

“I did, and the two before that,” he says simply, not as a boast, but merely a statement of fact. 

She tilts her head. “Your brothers don’t seem like the type to take a loss well.” 

“You don’t either.” He cannot help it, a hint of a teasing lilt has slipped into his voice. There is something about her that drags playfulness out of him, perhaps a hidden want to impress, to see her laugh. Elijah cannot understand it.

He is still angry, though, but his control is impeccable. He will not show that this tirade she’s weaving has affected him. He will not lash out or act a fool as Niklaus would have done in his place. 

His response seemed to amuse her, and she let out a breathy little chuckle. His heart tugs at the sound. “I saw you in town,” she says slyly, looking up at him from under dark eyelashes. 

_There it is._

“It seemed as though we never did quite catch each other,” he settles for, knowing that their small talk has reached an end. Katerina grins, as though his answer was what she had expected and yet not at the same time. She seemed pleased, but Elijah, for all his intelligence cannot figure out why. 

She turns toward him, so that their bodies were completely parallel. She is still grinning, and there is one thing between them, tangible, palpable, _alive_ , and she is masterminding it. His breath catches in what he realizes is a monumental moment of loss of control. He wants to be angry, to erase this vulnerability, but he cannot seem to focus on anything but the woman before him. 

Their breaths mingle, and she smells like vanilla, and something else that he knows the name for but cannot place, _what is it–_

“If you caught me, the game would be over,” she says, and with that she backs up suddenly, strolling away, leaving the scent of lavender and wickedness in her wake. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was a bit more somber/less lighthearted than the previous ones but Bc it’s Elijah I feel like it’s kind of a given. I was so nervous about writing from his POV, it’s so difficult to get into his head LOL, but i think it was easier than if he was a 1000 years old vampire in this fic and whatnot. I love that line he says to Katherine in the flashback “if I catch you, the game would be over,” so I wanted to put in this fic Bc it kind of summarizes like, their whole relationship. Thank you for all your kind comments and kudos, I appreciate them sm sm and they motivate me to write so 😎

**Author's Note:**

> I miss The Vampire Diaries very very much, so I’ve decided to revive this old, old, old, prehistoric fic from 2018 that I wrote featuring my second favorite dysfunctional family: the Mikaelson’s ! This is an au that’s set kind of in the 1900s and it’s going to be 90 percent fluff and 10 percent actual plot. If it’s historically inaccurate, I apologize in advance, but it’s not being written for historical accuracy LMAO this is j for my own closure and your entertainment


End file.
